Hi all, I've been to the Cornell compost facility off Stevenson Road several times in the last few days. Over the weekend, Kevin had a second-cycle ICELAND GULL: http://picasaweb.google.com/KevinJ.McGowan/Gulls201102#5565806580337010306 On Monday, gull numbers were very low and I was not able to find anything out of the ordinary. Yesterday, after the return of the students and the resulting influx of wasted food, the numbers were greatly augmented. I found an adult ICELAND GULL with moderately dark wingtips and an interesting pale Herring-type Gull that may well be a Herring x Glaucous hybrid (Nelson's Gull), or possibly just an abnormally large, pale Herring Gull. A sequence of this bird begins here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jmcgowan57/Winter20102011#5566183702254267842 Finally, today I checked in again. All the gulls were up on the hillside above the piles when I arrived and I was not able to pick out anything unusual. As I was about to leave a noticed a few gulls that had moved onto the lower piles near the entrance, and quickly found an adult GLAUCOUS GULL among them. This bird flew around a lot and probably went to the fresh pile as soon as I left. It stands a head taller than the surrounding Herring Gulls, with pure white wingtips, a slightly paler gray mantle, large head and bill, and an obvious yellow eye. A sequence of this bird begins here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jmcgowan57/Winter20102011#5566522186077431218
As I was coming up Rt. 13 between Warren and Sapsucker Woods, I saw a pair of COMMON RAVENS flying northwest over the road. As I was walking into the Lab, I saw another COMMON RAVEN flying north over the pond, calling loudly as it flew. Other birds at the Lab lately include the continuing FIELD SPARROW, a female PURPLE FINCH, a flock of COMMON REDPOLLS, and several WHITE-THROATED and SONG SPARROWS. Good birding. Jay McGowan Dryden, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
